Poll: 47% of people on CERB opposed to Universal Basic Income

TORONTO, ON – A new Ipsos poll conduced in the first two weeks of April shows that nearly half of Canadians who applied for the Canadian Emergency Relief Benefit (CERB) hold an unfavourable view of Universal Basic Income or UBI.

The federal government created the CERB in response to the unprecedented economic slowdown caused by COVID-19 as part of a number of programs to help workers and businesses.

The goal of the program, which provides qualified Canadians $2,000 per month, is to ensure people are able to provide themselves and their families the basic necessities of life including food and shelter.

The counterintuitive finding by Ipsos doesn’t surprise many in the field who study acceptance of UBI among western societies.

“There tends to be a strong correlation between those who oppose UBI and also oppose other forms of government welfare,” explained an analyst from Ipsos.

Another key finding from the study found that those on CERB who oppose UBI would choose to remain on the program if allowed to continue receiving payments after returning to work.